Corrupted
by serendipity5089
Summary: Kylo Ren has been in search of a droid that possesses a map to the death of his former master. However, paths cross with a girl from his past life as a jedi padawan. Both unsure of the meaning of the force bringing them back together. Is this a chance for a new life or to finally kill memories of a past life dead and gone forever? OCxKylo Ren, A little dash of Poe and Hux. ;)
1. Chapter 1 A History and Payment

Chapter 1: A History and Payment

A/N: So, after reading multiple fanfics due to my own dissatisfaction regarding the end of The Rise of Skywalker I am deciding to write my own... This is going to be a Kylo Ren and Original Character story, because I was incredibly disappointed they killed him off at the end of the last movie… Oh spoiler btw… Sorry about that. Anyways, bear with me as this is my first story, I am writing it slightly intoxicated on a 12-hour flight to London with my husband heckling me in the seat next to me…

Here we go…

A little introduction regarding where this story begins and what liberties I will be taking with regard to the original plot… For start, I decided this will not include Rey, at least not yet... This story will pick up with the force awakening but with a different unfolding of events. However, they will track similarly to the movies.

Flash Back…..

"Do you ever wonder what purpose it is we are serving by being here?", Ben pondered out loud staring into the deep black hole. Covered in seaweed, the black abyss called to him in his mind, drawing him in.

"It is not for us to wonder such things Ben, we follow our master, continue our training, and act as servants to the force striving to maintain balance in the universe." Alara spoke softly her voice carrying on the nights breeze. Her dark auburn hair braided loosely, falling down her back, with stray curls framing her face. Her crystal blue eyes gazed out upon the sunset, less taken with the black hole in the rocks than her fellow Padawan.

Ren broke his gaze away from the hole with in the rock and took a moment to steal a glance at his companion. She was so fair skinned with delicate features she looked as if she could tear apart at any moment. Difficult to believe how fierce she could be when it came to their combat training.

Ben scoffed at her response, standing suddenly and beginning to walk up the hill back to the temple, "I wish I could have your blind devotion to the force Alara, but I need answers… I want control of my own destiny."

Alara chased after him, grapping his hand spinning him around to face her, "Ben, I feel your frustration and that you are distancing from me. I dread what it means… for you and for us?"

"You dread it? Haven't you said before that you need distance? That I cloud the force within you?" He stepped closer to her, staring down at her, dwarfing her in comparison. She was petite standing a little over 5 feet and his 6"4 frame towed over her.

Alara tried to look down, look away, look anywhere but in his eyes. "Ben, you know we cannot. I feel it too, I would be lying to say I do not feel the pull toward you, but it is against the rules. We must maintain control of our feelings. If we lose control of our emotions then we lose the balance in the force." Alara rested her hand on his chest briefly. The touch, even with fabric as a barrier, sent electricity through her body.

"Fuck the force, Alara! Why should those as powerful as us deprive ourselves of what we want?" Ben raises his hand to her face, brushing her lips with his thumb. He sees her inhale sharply, he can sense her wanting, and then she turns away…

That was it, he then turned away from her continuing his walk back to the Jedi temple for the last time.

It was that night her world burned down around her. Alara awoke suddenly to the sound of eruption, the ground shaking. She grabbed her lightsaber running out of the stone hut to a sight she could hardly believe if it weren't for her own eyes. Several huts had been demolished and the temple itself was on fire. Alara hurriedly looked around for a source of the turmoil but saw no starships or attackers. Then she heard the screams. Coming from the temple she sensed the pain, the fear, the confusion. She ran as quickly as she could towards the temple but when she came nearer her feet froze. Alara stood petrified for what she saw she could not comprehend. There was blood, so much blood, and the boy she loved standing in the middle of all the carnage.

Present Day, 10 years later…

Alara awoke from her dreams clamoring for the torn linens around her, grasping for any symbol that she was no longer in that place of tragedy. She looked around finally gathering her barring's, recognizing the home she had fashioned out of a decrypted AT-AT Walker left over from battles almost forgotten. She staggered forward pulling open the curtain to the opening of her hut. Staring out upon the sunrise she painfully reflected on her memories which had now become her nightmares. Pushing away the thoughts she hurriedly dressed, preparing herself to go on the hunt before the dessert sun began to burn.

Alara dressed in dark green pants slightly worn in places but holding together for the moment. She draped around her torso a tan cloth fashioned into a tunic, covering her just enough to not draw attention, but as little as possible in hopes of staying cool. Bending over she lashed the straps on her knee-high boots and buckled her weapons belt around her waist.

She turned to the table where her weapons laid. She had abandoned the light saber of the Jedi following the events of that night in hopes of distancing herself from the past and fashioned a weapon of her own making a lightsaber adapted to the form of two Sai's, a three-pronged weapon, with the middle saber significantly longer, equally adept at defense as well as offence. She strapped them two her thighs along with a large blaster gun swung across her back and several small daggers hidden on her body… A girl in the outlands can never be too prepared or protected.

As Alara prepared to head out for the day she received a transmission via the designated channel of intergalactic bounty hunters offering a five-hundred credits for the return of an orange and white droid to the resistance… minutes later a similar offer came in from the First Order offering substantially more money for the same droid along with a traitor stormtrooper who was traveling with the machine… Deciding whom she would bring the bounty to was a dilemma Alara would sort through after she captured the droid.

She was in luck, the droid, along with the identified deserter of the First Order had been spotted on her planet this very day. Alara jumped in her sand cruiser and took off to the market place, the most likely spot for them to seek transport off of this miserable planet.

By the time Alara came upon the market place she had also spotted several Tie fighters of the First Order circling the area. Well, this made the choice for her, there was no point helping the First Order troops capture a bounty they had placed themselves because that would undoubtedly result in herself being shorted on the reward. To the resistance go the spoils she supposed.

Alara raced into the market place, jumped off her cruiser and raced into the fray as the tie fighters began opening fire on the area. She was looking around rapidly, running through the market place to find her target before the First Order did, and then suddenly, she was knocked clear off her feet. She Looked around ready to fight and saw the identified Stormtrooper Deserter whom had violently swept her off her feet… well this was a fortunate accident or perhaps the force at work, either way it made her job much easier.

Slightly annoyed, Alara jumped to her feet, outstretching her hand to the deserter still laying on the ground, the wanted droid next to him. He hesitated a moment taking appraisal of her, probably unsure if she could be trusted. A shot rain out near them and Alara yelled, "do you want to get out of here or not? Your choice?" The dark skinned, naively handsome man took her hand, "fine, lead the way, just get us the hell out of here."

The three of them began racing across the sand. Alara knew she needed an actual ship to escape this mess and directed them out away from the village toward the junk masters ship. "What is your name?" Alara yelled to the fugitive.

"Fin, it's Fin," the man said almost unsure of his own response.

"Okay Fin, you and your droid better keep up and you better know how to shoot." Alara yelled as they neared the ship only to have it blown up as tie fighter made a overhead pass. "Okay change of plans," and with that Alara directed them towards a heap of junk she saw as their last chance to survive.

The two of them darted up the metal plank and into the control room, the droid quickly following behind them. Alara quickly began flipping switches as the machine puttered to life. Thankfully the shield came to life quickly protecting them from the fire power they were taking on.

Fin yelled, "Can you please get this thing in the air already!"

"Oh, I'm sorry, I don't see you being of very much help!" Suddenly the ship jolted into the air and they were flying quickly away from the village. Alara took control of the steering having to navigate around the shots fired from the ships still pursuing them. "Can you make yourself useful and provide some fire power please!"

Fin ran quickly, sliding into the cannon compartment, and quickly attempted to get his bearing. "Stay low, stay low! It confuses there tacking!" After several unsuccessful, and frankly embarrassing shots he began getting the hang of this thing. One shot, one fighter down.

"Hold on!" Yelled Alara and suddenly, the ship shot straight up in the air circling around behind the last remaining tie fighter. Fin took his shot, blasting the last remaining fighter out of the sky.

They both breathed a sigh of relief momentarily… Alara launched them into hyperspace jumping galaxies and buying some time for her to figure out the next step. Taking Fin and the BB-droid to the First Order at this point was not a good idea considering she was now responsible for the destruction of two of their own fighters. Her only choice left was to take them to the Resistance, receive her bounty, and hopefully avoid any more unwanted attention.

Fin came into the cockpit and collapsed into the co-pilots chair, the droid whizzed in behind him, "so I guess I should get the name now of the person who just saved my life?"

"It's Alara," she responded not taking her eyes off the controls.

"Well Alara thank you for doing us that favor, not sure how we would have made it out otherwise," Fin stated still breathing loudly.

"Don't bother with the thanks, I'm a bounty hunter, I couldn't have my targets being captured by anyone else," Alara replied matter of fact.

The droid made a loud beeping sounds as Fin responded, "great that would be just my luck today."


	2. Chapter 2 Internal Conflict

A/N: Sorry not much Kylo action, but I needed to set the basis for the story to development. Like I mentioned this story will track similar to the movie for at least a little while, but without Rey. If you didn't pick up on it Alara and Ren have some history…

Also, I made my avatar to look how I envision Alara if anyone is curious. Chapters are coming to me pretty quickly so will probably post one ever day or so until I go back to school in January. Happy Holidays!

Back on the First Order Star Destroyer some bad news was being about to be relayed, "Sir, I regret to inform that we have lost the deserter and the BB-8 droid", the pair of stormtroopers reported to Kylo Ren, heads bowed bracing themselves for his anger, which was inevitably to follow. The commander had been standing on the deck reviewing scans of the galaxy hoping to find the hiding place of the resistance battalion.

Kylo's grip tightened on his light saber while he continued to stare out to space. "Explain to me how this could happen, how an insignificant droid and a low-level storm trooper could have possibly eluded an entire squad of fighters?" His voice began to increase in fury as he spoke.

"They were assisted sir; they were assisted by a woman. We later identified her as a bounty hunter going by the name of Alara. We believe she is taking them to the resistance whom also placed a reward for the return of the BB-8 droid. There is good new thought sir, we received word from someone who spotted just the ship on Takodana, they have gone to Maz's castle, we can be there within a few hours and launch a full force attack" Despite this bit of good news stormtroopers began to back away slowly as they saw the commanders body begin to tighten, hunching and contorting in anger.

In one swift movement Kylo Ren spun around, drew his blazing red lightsaber and effortlessly sliced through the heads of the two stormtroopers clean off. All pilots on the deck remained still, staring straight ahead at their screens. The now severed heads of the two messengers rolled to a stop a few feet away.

"Tisk, tisk, tisk, losing your temper so easily." Kyle Ren looked up from the floor where the severed bodies laid to see his red headed General walking onto the deck. General Hux, the worthless cur who had managed to ingratiate himself into the upper ranks of the First Order without a shred of physical talent kicked on of the severed heads around with his foot for a few seconds before making eye contact with Ren. "The supreme commander wished to see us Kylo, no doubt he has heard of the failed mission and wishes to speak with us. I trust you have a acceptable explanation for your failure."

Kylo Ren growled through his helmet, "a small mind such as yourself may only be able to see the short game, however I assure you that any momentary set back I have encountered will be worth it in the grand scheme of my plan." Breathing heavily through his helmet Kylo storms past Hux across the bridge to the communication chamber, the general quickly following in hopes of seeing Kylo Ren reprimanded by the supreme leader. As General Hux exits the command room her yells behind him, "will someone clean up this mess!"

The two of them entered a dark vast room which had been designed exclusively for confidential communication with the Supreme Leader. The hologram powered on and both generals knelt before the immense form of Snoke. His voice bellowed in the cavernous room, "I sense news of failure is about to be delivered to me, Kylo Ren your personal vendetta has proven unsuccessful."

Kylo Ren could hear Hux snicker next to him, a gesture that would not be forgotten. "I give my humblest apologies to you my supreme leader, but I assure you we are in close pursuit of the droid, as well as the First Order traitor."

"Yes, and it is in the company of a deserter, as well as former Jedi Padawan Alara." Snoke's voiced hissed the name of the girl whom Ren had trained with for years.

Kylo Ren tensed at the name momentarily before shaking off the surprise and the deep sensation that stirred within him, "that makes no difference to me, I have training well beyond her years thanks to your guidance. Once I locate the ship, I will go and recover the droid unit myself, and I promise she will not be an obstacle in my path."

"I sense the splitting in you just with the mere mention of her name, I hope you do not underestimate her effect on you. Your lingering emotions are your weakness Kylo Ren! You may also have another problem, she does not travel alone but has now been joined by Han Solo, your father." Snoke's figured loomed over the two kneeling figures and with a booming voice ordered the mission completed. "You must finish what you started now, obtain the where a bouts of Luke Skywalker and put an end to the resistance! Do not disappoint me Kylo Ren, for my confidence in your strength to overcome the light is wavering, I suggest you take care of this problem quickly"

General Hux stood, saluting the supreme commander, "yes sir I will make sure things do not go wrong again, I will send my forces to the planet and carry out your orders, then with the use of the star killer we will destroy the planet."

Ignoring General Hux's attempt to further undermine Ren, the Supreme leader spoke again, "Kylo Ren, you seem to be heavy in thought. What is continuing to trouble you?" The supreme leader's hologram leaned farther down, his face inches from the masked commanders.

"Sir, the bounty hunter that has possession of the droid, she could be of use to us." Kylo hesitantly suggested. "As you said commander she is a former Padawan of Luke Skywalker and if she is turned and trained could be an invaluable asset to our cause."

"And what makes you so confident that you may be able to bring her over to the dark side?" Snoke questioned.

"When I left the Jedi temple, when I slaughtered our fellow students, she did not fight me. She could not bring herself to raise a weapon against me even to protect others. I sensed in that moment a fracturing within her… I think this could be an opportunity." Kylo was unsure where this thought suddenly came from, perhaps he reasoned it was an acknowledgment of the weakness within himself that he wished to exterminate. He was on a mission to cauterize any wound left open from his past. "If she cannot be turned supreme commander than she will be of course be destroyed, along with my father. They mean nothing to me, and by the grace of your training I will not be seduced."

"We will see, attempt to turn her if the opportunity presents itself, but let me say plainly that I sense the conflict within you so be sure of the path you are considering proceeding down. I question why you left her alive all those years ago but be sure that I will not be so merciful to either of you should it threaten my plans!" With that statement Stoke dissipated. Kylo stood, general Hux standing behind him.

General Hux took a step away from Ren, "Well that was entertaining. I will send my troops into the base camp as discussed to retrieve to drone, and with any luck this side mission of yours may rid myself of you in the process."

Ren breathed angerly through his mask, "it sounds as if you are hoping the mission fails?'

Hux laughed, "Careful Ren, I would never hope for failure of my own plans or the Supreme Commanders, I only for the failure of your own personal vendetta."

….

At Maz's cantina, a hiding spot for all creatures throughout the galaxy, Hans, Finn, Chewy, and Alara discussed with Maz how to proceed with their plan to return the BB-8 to the resistance.

Maz said plainly, "I have already sent word to the resistance troops nearest this location to come pick up the droid, they will be here within the hour."

Alara gruffly responded, "Good, I want my money and to be free of this thing. It has been nothing but problems for me sense I laid eyes upon it and I am beginning to doubt the money is worth it."

"Her just remember we are now splitting this money since it's my ship that got you this far in the first place," Han reminded Alara. Chewy growled in the background in agreement. Alara had heard the stories of Han Solo, she knew more of him than he did of her. Apparently unaware of their personal connection Alara felt no need to muddy the water with old history. She just wanted to get this over with, get her money, and get out of here before this got even messier. They had already fought off two other teams of bounty hunters trying to collect on the droid just to get this far.

Maz quickly remarked, "I think you all are blind to what is unfolding around you and will soon find yourselves connected with what once was lost."

"You speak in riddles old toad," Alara harshly retorted.

Hearing a ship touch down outside, "I recognize the sound of those thrusters and I think I'm beginning to know what Maz is referring to." Turning to the old women, "Maz you never mentioned who within the resistance you contacted specifically…"

"Didn't I? Must have slipped my mind. Age really is getting the better of me," Maz Chuckled to herself waddling away towards the entrance of the cantina.


	3. Chapter 3 Reunited and it Feels So…

Chapter 3: Reunited and it Feels So…

So, I am writing all these chapters so far at once on a long plane ride overseas. I would appreciate all critiques and thought on the chapters thus far as encouragement. My husband is finding my new obsession with this story and the characters very entertaining…

…

Alara, Finn, Han, and Chewy run out of the cantina following Maz. Seeing a large shuttle touch down in the clearing ahead Alara overhears Han curse under his breath, "fuck me."

As they walk closer to the ship the hatch opens and hobbling down the walkway comes a golden drone, an old edition that Alara has not seen since she was a child. Her breath catches in her throat as the next person she sees is another blast from her past, General Leia Organa, whom she had not seen since the last time she visited her son at the Jedi temple.

Leia stops, smiles and looks directly at Alara, "it's nice to see you again my dear, it really has been too long."

At this familiar greeting the others simply look between the two women. A moment later Han steps forward, "wait a minute you two know each other? And here I was going to be the one in the middle of an awkward moment. Maz you knew this was coming all along with you senile sneaky old bat"

Maz simply chuckles to herself, "Oh my dear friend if you only knew the things I have foreseen that are to come you would think yourself the senile one."

Alara drops to one knee bowing her head before the group, "I am sorry Han Solo, I should have told you immediately, but I have seen you before as well. I was a small girl when I saw you and the general bring Ben to the Jedi temple."

Leia steps forward quickly grasping Alara gently by the arm and lifting her to her feet. "Please child, you must not chastise yourself, we have all suffered a great loss and there is no need to apologize or bow. Han, as you know, I visited the Jedi temple, to see our son and my brother several times over the years which is how I know young Jedi Alara," Leia spoke the last words, Jedi Alara, even more loudly as though she were also reminding Alara of her past.

Alara retorted quickly seeing the confused faces of the others, "I must respectfully correct you General Organa, I never completed my training, I deserted the order after your son…" she trailed off, "I shammed myself walking away, I was too weak, I lost faith in the force."

Leia quickly retorted, "none of that matters now my dear, you have the force within you, I feel your strength, we must move forward if we hope to save the universe! I have learned first-hand that there is no time to dwell on our past mistakes."

"Wait a minute," Finn cuts in on the conversation, "your telling me that you all know each other, you're a bounty hunter and former Jedi and Kylo Ren is actually the son of you both?" Fin stares between Leia, Han, and Alara. "Doesn't this feel all too coincidental to any of you?"

Maz cuts in on the conversation, "the force of the galaxy has a mysterious way of bring people together to restore the balance." A young child runs up to Maz whispering something in her ear hole and Maz announces, "we have received word that the First Order is on the way, they will be here within the hour. We have enough power here to hold them off, but not defeat withstand a full attack."

"They are coming for the droid," Alara spoke, "There was a bounty placed by the First Order for both the BB droid and Finn for deserting the stormtrooper brigade." Alara mentally reached out into space searching for something, someone. A moment later Alara fell to her knees. She winced feeling pulled apart from the inside. "He is coming, he is coming for the droid, for the map… and he is coming for me," Alara screamed in pain. With all of her mental strength she cut the connection, the pain in her mind dissipated. "Somehow he knows I have the droid. I can sense his determination and rage," Alara hastily explained through ragged breaths, "we need to leave, now!"

Han spoke up, "okay let's move, we need to get clear of this place Leia before our son arrives. Maz will you come with us?"

Maz shook her head, "this is my home and I will protect it!" Maz goes running towards the castle yelling for people to man their stations.

"We won't be able to escape here quickly enough without coming under fire and they have too many ships for us to be able to hold our own," Finn explained quickly.

"I've got an idea," interjected Alara. "I can sense Ben, I mean Kylo Ren, I can feel his intent to find me. Use me as a distraction, take the droid on the millennium falcon, leave now and I will hold him off long enough for your getaway. He will sense me, coming looking assuming that I still have the droid and that will give you all the time to get of the atmosphere and jump at light speed to safety."

Finn interjected, "you must be fucking crazy if you think we are going to leave you to that monster. I understand that you all have history, but this guy is dark, I have seen him destroy villages and you think he won't destroy you? You all even said it, Ben your son is dead, this guy is not that person anymore" Finn grabs her by the arms and stares deep into her eyes, "I know we don't know each other well and I was just a bounty to you, but you saved me, saved us, and we won't just leave you to die."

Alara reached up and put her hand on his cheek to attempt to comfort him as best she could, "you will walk away now, board the ship, and protect yourself and the droid. You will help the resistance and not worry about me."

Finn got a dazed look on his face, "I will walk away now, board the ship, and protect myself and the droid. I will help the resistance and not worry about you." Finn turned around, walked straight past Han and boarded the Millennium Falcon.

Han chuckled to himself, "well that's a skill that could come in handy."

Leia gave him a sideways glance rolling her eyes.

Alara turned to address General Organa and Han, "I don't know if he intends to kill me, I don't sense that, however, I cannot be sure. Worst case scenario I see it is that Kylo Ren kills me, but I can fight him off long enough for you all to get away."

Han interjected, "oh is that all? Then what do you see being the best-case scenario?"

Alara pauses for a moment, "General, if I can garner Kylo Ren's trust then perhaps I can relay vital information back to the resistance?"

"Oh, come on Leia this is suicide we cannot sacrifice this young girl!" Yells Han, Chewy echoing a guttural yell in agreement.

"Alara I sense that you are torn, I know what happened at the temple and since this is a mission you hope might give yourself closure. I sense a stubborn determination and suspect we cannot talk you out of this. Alright, let's go for it. Prepare ships for take-off and the drone will come with me. Han, I will send you coordinates for the resistance fighter base. Alara, take this micro-transmission chip, you can hook it up to any keypad and will be able to send messages directly to me. Hide it somewhere you are sure it will not be found!"

"As Maz said, I think the force has been pulling me towards this moment all along. I lost a part of myself the day Ben died, the day Kylo Ren destroyed our home," Alara trailed off at the end of her sentence as she stared up into the sky. She also silently began building walls around memories in her head that Kylo Ren would surely go digging for if he is to test her. She would need to build these walls in her mind so strong that even Ren could not pry the information from her, not without killing her.

Kylo Ren was flying at max speed towards the planet's surface, he would not let the droid get away, he would not let her getaway… not this time.

As Kylo reached his destination fire began to stream towards him, ground cannons, Maz had apparently updated her stronghold. No matter, they would only delay him and his troops for a short time. Easily maneuver the ship through the barrage and taking out several of the cannons Kylo Ren had made it to the planet's surface. He set his own ship down on the ground in the midst of all the fire. Ground troops had begun to unload. He ordered them to search for the droid and the defector, Ren would concern himself with the search for the girl.

Two stormtroopers approached commander Ren and knelt before him. "Sir, we received word from the fleet that they picked up the signal of several ships leaving the atmosphere on the other side of the planet, it would appear from the images that one to the ships was the millennium falcon. We have searched the castle and are surveying the forest but there has been no sign of the droid yet"

At this Commander Kylo Ren exploded with anger, he had failed in what he came here to do, he had lost the droid. Worse, yet the droid was now in the possession of the resistance, finally, to make matters worse he had lost the girl, again. Ren unsheathed his lightsaber ready to take all his frustration out on the troops in front of him. Suddenly he got a sense of something, a force, through the trees. It was her he knew it. He ran through the clearing staring down into a ravine where he saw her. She was getting into an old rust bucket of a starship attempting to take off. Kylo Ren jumped from the ledge of the cliff descending nearly a hundred feet landing crouched in front of her.

He could see her through the dirt-covered glass of the cockpit and she did not look happy to see him. He stood up drawing his lightsaber as he proceeded to step towards the ship.

He could hear her attempting to start the ship, the engine struggling to fire. He slowly continued walking towards her. The ship's engine finally ignited, and the metal creaked as it lifted off the ground. Kylo steadied himself as the ship began shooting towards him. He smirked to himself, what a coward she is playing trying to run him down with this piece of junk. The ship came directly at him, a fraction of a second before collision Kylo Ren launched himself into the air, swinging his lightsaber around, dragging it along the tail of the ship. The ship, now in flames, skidded to a stop, colliding with the wall of the ravine.

Kylo walked to the edge of the flaming wreckage and stared down at the girl who laid suspended in the cockpit. Stormtroopers hurried down to the crash site. "Grab the girl, load her on my transport, and secure her in my interrogation room when we return to the Finalizer. I have many questions that need answering."

The Millennium Falcon set down on the surface of D'Qar, a resistance base run by General Organa. Han exits the ship and storms over to Leia, "I can't believe I just went along with that idiotic idea. We left that girl to die at the hands of our son."

Leia sighed and placed a hand on Han's face, "Maz was right, the force is drawing them together, drawing all of us together for some reason. The force strives for balance in the universe and I think she is part of achieving that goal. I can't lose hope in him yet."

Finn walks down the deck followed by BB-8 looking around at the resistance base. "Wow I had no idea there were this many people in the resistance," he said looking around in ah.

"Finn buddy you are alive!" Finn hears a familiar voice behind him and turns to see Poe. "Oh man, you are alive! I thought I had lost you!" Finn exclaimed give the pilot a hug.

"Yeah man, I got thrown from the wreckage and woke up in the middle of nowhere. I see you took care of my droid though and my jacket looks good on you! So, seems you found yourself in a bit of action since I left you!" Poe laughs and pats his droid on what Finn supposes is considered his head.

Poe began to tell his story "Um, yeah you could say that. Got picked up by a bounty hunter named Alara who turned out to be a former Jedi, who then…"

Poe interrupted Finn, "wait did you just say? Did you say Alara? Where is she? Did she come with you?"

"Um, what no she didn't, wait you know each other?" Finns head was spinning from the chaos of the past several days.

"Yeah we know each other, to put it simply. So where is she?" Poe asked now looking concerned.

Finns face dropped, "She's gone, she was taken by Kylo Ren."

"Shit," Poe said.


	4. Chapter 4 Oh, How It Hurts So Good

Chapter 4: Oh, How It Hurts So Good

A/N: So, I am writing these a few chapters at a time then going back and making edits/editions. I am just beginning to familiarize myself with the SW universe so feel free to point out corrections or gaps that you would like me to address in chapters. I hope people are generally enjoying this story so far. Sorry if it moves a little slow, but still getting the hang of writing fiction. Very different than working on a dissertation haha.

Flashback: "Come with me, take my hand and be with me. We will be more powerful together than anything the galaxy has known before, just take my hand, please Alara!" Ben was staring down at her as she lay on the stone floor covered in others blood. Ben's hand was outstretched to her and she could feel her own hand being drawn to grasp it. She looked up at him through the tears in her eyes, "what have you done! How could you kill them all?"

Ben knelt down in front of her grasping her head in his hands, "Alara look at me, we must go now! I will explain, I will make everything better, but you must come with me now!"

"I can't leave them! I don't know who you are!" Alara pushed away from him scrambling to her feet. Behind her she heard yelling and turned to see Luke along with several other Jedi Masters running up the hill. When she turned back around Ben was running away from her toward a nearby ship. The last thing she heard was his voice in her head saying goodbye."

Present Day: Alara was ripped from her slumber, grateful to leave her nightmare and return to reality, that was until she began to focus her eyes on her unfamiliar surroundings. She groaned a splitting headache along with pain in her shoulder and wrist brought back her last memories before losing consciousness. She remembers hurling straight towards Ben, towards Kylo Ren, in hopes she would either take-off in time to escape or perhaps run him down. Seconds away before collision she recalls him leaping in the air, out of sight, and then all went black.

Realizing she was strapped to a metal chair with restraints at her ankles, wrists, and neck. She struggled for a moment testing the strength of cuffs. This was obviously futile, Alara cursed her stupidity as pain seethed throughout her body. Alara looked around the room her vision still fuzzy. The room was dark, a single light shown down from the ceiling directly above her. Her eyes were beginning to adjust as she scanned the darkness surrounding her, suddenly she sensed a presence. Alara snapped her head to the right, too quickly causing pain to shoot down her spine. There, kneeling in the corner, was the masked man. She could just make out the glint of silver inlay in his mask, unable to make out his eyes but certain they were staring directly into her own.

"Welcome Alara, it has been a while hasn't it?" Kylo Ren's voice was deep, slightly muffled by the mask but it still set her hair on end. He remained crouching in the corner staring at the girl.

"It has. And now I am your prisoner?" Alara seethed with anger emphasizing the word prisoner.

"You are my guest," Ren responded with a slight grin behind his mask.

"Hm guest, you should really rethink your hospitality, "she groaned attempting unsuccessfully to shift into a more comfortable position. "I would say it was nice to see you again but we both know I would be lying. So how does this work now? Can we get on with it?"

"Impatient? Is it not good to see me after over a decade? Or are you just eager to reunite with your resistance friends?" Kylo remarked in a sarcastic hurt tone.

"I'm not with the resistance, I simply was collecting what was owed to me. I would have brought the droid to the First Order if they had a better reputation for providing payment. And how can it be good to see you when all I see is a monster hiding behind a mask?" As soon as the last sentenced left her mouth she knew that she went too far.

Ren stood from his crouched position, closing the space between them in two quick strides and grasped a hand around her throat, "A monster you say! I have yet to show you how truly monstrous I can behave!" His fingers dug into her neck making it exceedingly difficult to breathe. He let go suddenly and Alara gasped for air, coughing trying to catch her breath. Ren stepped away from her, turning his back to face her. He reached both hands up to his helmet and Alara heard the clicking and release of the helmet. Slowly, setting the helmet on a nearby table he turned again to face her.

Alara lost her breath all over again. She didn't move a muscle as their eyes locked. His face was harder than it had been when they were young, but it was still the face of Ben Solo or now called Kylo Ren. Finally, after what felt like an eternity, she forced her gaze to the floor.

"What don't like what you see? Cannot bear to look at this monster without his mask? Or perhaps you do like the view which is the source of your discomfort?" Kylo Ren's scowl softened into a self-satisfied smirk. "I am not the young padawan you remember Alara, in so many ways."

Alara remained silent looking at the ground realizing that this was going to be more difficult than she expected. She had thought the day Ben Solo died all her feelings had gone along with him, but now her thoughts were race and the force within her felt unstable. She was having to concentrate on keeping her mental walls up while she worked out how she was going to get her plan back on track. "So, what happens now?" she asked finally making eye contact again briefly. She wanted to get the conversation back on track, away from their past and focused on the present. She needed to figure out fast if she was going to be able to maneuver her way into a position here to gather information or if she needed to be quickly formulating an escape plan.

"Well, I suppose that depends on the answers you give me, starting with where is the droid?" Ren asked assuming a relaxed posture leaning against the far wall.

"I have no idea. I brought them the droid, they paid me, and we parted ways. I'm not part of the resistance so how would I know where they went?" This was the truth; she had made sure no one told her any information that she would have to attempt to hide from Ren. No lies, that was the only way she would be able to pull this off, otherwise, he would sense it.

"So, you say," Kylo Ren walked closer to his guest once more, this time lightly placing his hand on her forehead. "Since you seem in a hurry how about I just take the information I need."

Alara felt the pressure in her head increase as he began searching her mind for the truth. All at once, images started flashing through her mind going back in time. Images of giving the droid to Han and Leia and payment being exchanged, she had walled off memory of formulating their plan and hoped Ren would not notice a gap in the timeline within her mind. If he did notice, he was more trained than she was, and she would be unlikely to be able to hold him back. Thankfully he kept going back in time.

"I see you had a nice reunion with my parents, how it must have been for my mother to see you again, painful I expect. Well seems you told you truth, you don't have information on the resistance or what the drone was carrying. That is disappointing and a problem for me. So, you've been on Jaku quite some time appears like the bounty hunter profession has suited you. Hmmm but I feel your loneliness, have you missed me all this time?" Ren laughs to himself now apparently sifting through her memories for his own enjoyment rather than for information on the resistance. "Well I see you haven't been completely alone the whole time," Ren hisses as an image of her with a dark-haired man flashed through her mind, the two of them tangled up in bed together. "I suppose that is confirmation that you left the Jedi order after my departure because we both know you never would have broken your oath of celibacy to the order had you continued your training," Ren sneered unsure if this is what others would call jealousy or pure revulsion.

At this moment Alara's own power exploded shoving Ren from her mind and slamming the door shut, "that's enough, my memories are not an open book for you to flip through and you lost any right to be disgusted by me the day you destroyed our lives!" Ren had stumbled backward propelled by her own use of the force. She had exerted so much power at that moment Ren was speechless.

Kylo Ren finally shook himself of his stupor and regained his composure smiling to himself at the possible asset he now has access to, "that is what I was waiting for, I remember you being strong Alara but I think with the proper training you could surpass expectations." His voice deepened becoming intensely serious, "join me, let me train you. Follow me and together we control the universe finally bringing peace to the galaxy."

"And if I were to refuse? What would you do to me then?" Alara questioned to Ren. This was what she was hoping for though she is sure he does not trust her, but she can see in his face the wheels turning for how he can use her. She had held her mental ground better than she thought, allowing him only to see that which would confirm her lack of ties to the Jedi order or the resistance. Allow she surprised herself with her ability to cut the mental ties with him when she wanted to. It had been ten years since she called on her Jedi powers to utilize the force but in this instance, they did not fail her.

"I will kill you. I will torture you for every last bit of information you might possibly have that would help the First Order and then I will dispose of you. Do not flatter yourself Alara to think that I care for you as I used to. Those feelings, those weaknesses died with Ben Solo," Kylo Ren knew it would take time to bring her over to the dark side, but he could feel the pull in her, the pull towards himself. "Just know that you cannot be allowed to freely return to your life as a bounty hunter, you have to much potential for trouble for me to simply let you."

"Well it doesn't sound like you are giving me much of a choice," Alara responded with a heavy sigh as she leaned back into her restraints. "Can you at least get me out of these ties now? I am galaxies beyond uncomfortable!"

Ren came up behind Alara, leaning into her, breath hot on her ear as he whispered, "say it, I need to hear you say you will follow me, Kylo Ren Master of the Knights of Ren!"

"I will follow you, Master Ren," she responded fearfully, more in fear of what was stirring inside of her than the masked man in front of her.


	5. Chapter 5 A Warning of Destruction

Ch 5 A Warning of Destruction

A/N: Hey all, thank you to the comments I have received and those following this story. Each one motivates me to keep this story going. Hoping to get another chapter out before the semester begins next week. I really would love more feedback from all! Constructive critique is also welcomed! This is my first fanfic and I haven't written anything besides research papers and treatment plans for years so I am sure I could use some help. Anyways, enjoy everyone!

Kylo Ren turned away from Alara. Grabbing his helmet off the nearby table he brushed his hair out of his face with his hand and returned the black mask to its place hiding the face of Ben Solo from the world. Alara heard the sound of the helmet clicking in place and with that, she felt the path to her possible destruction is assured.

With a flick of his fingers, all of the restraints holding Alara in place were opened. Alara fell to the floor painfully collapsing to her knees. At the same time, she heard the door to her prison open. In walked a stormtrooper, "Sir, I have word from General Hux to alert you the weapon is ready to fire, and your presence is required on the command deck."

Commander Kylo Ren stared at Alara's bruised and feeble form laying on the ground, "take this girl to the empty living space next to my own. Take care to lock her in and station two stormtroopers outside her door, they are not to leave her unattended until I return." The stormtrooper snapped his feet together and saluted the commander. Kylo Ren gave one last brief look at Alara who had remained staring at the ground, "we will speak later."

With those final words looming ominously in the air, the hooded specter of the boy she once knew hastily headed for the command deck.

The stormtrooper grabbed Alara by the arm, pulled her to her feet, and hastily marched her from the room. She needed to snap out of the daze she was in and start thinking of how she needed to proceed. They rode the elevator up what felt like a hundred floors until it finally stopped opening onto a long windowless hallway of black and grey. He marched her along the corridor turning to stop in front of an entry hatch. Typing in a code that Alara was unable to view the door opened. The stormtrooper pushed her inside, "this will be your residence until Commander Ren decides otherwise. Another stormtrooper and I will be stationed outside the door at all times so do not think to try anything foolish to escape, you won't get very far."

The door shut and she heard the locks click into place. Well now, what was she to do? She knew she needed to warn General Leia that the First Order was mounting an attack of some sort, unfortunately, she did not have any specific details to relay. She began looking around the room for any form of computer she could hook into but saw nothing. Finally, her eyes settled on the door keypad. That would have to do she thought. She quickly looked down at her neck making sure her necklace had not been taken. The gold chain with the innocuous-looking pendent that functioned as a transponder directly to General Leia thankfully still hung around her neck.

Alara quickly went to work, grabbing a dull knife from the kitchen drawer she hastily began unscrewing the keypad from the wall. She was careful not to leave marks so that she can return it to its proper position after and not raise any suspicion. Once removing the keypad, she removed her necklace, unfastened the output wire from the keypad, and inserted it into the transponder. A small green light on the pendant illuminated signally it was properly transmitting. Alara began typing her numerically coded message to the resistance:

"25483 288225 266464 3668 5669 6673 5337 86824 7829 7233"

"Alive attack coming don't know more keep touch stay safe"

Alara felt helpless sitting there with no more information to provide. She looked around the room hoping there would be a ventilation chamber she might be able to use to escape but she was in no such luck. She passed the room for several more minutes. She needed to disconnect the transmitter and return the control panel before anyone comes to check on her or else everything she had gone through thus far would have been for nothing. She just wanted a reply, any reply that would signal to her that they were alive. Finally, seconds before she was about to return the transponder to the place around her neck numbers displayed on the keypad.

"629 843 36723 23 9484 968"

"May the force be with you"

She felt as if she finally let go of the breath she had been holding in since she awoke on this ship. They had made it to the base, they were still alive, at least for now. Filled with relief, Alara placed the keypad back into the wall and tightened the screws.

"Well, now what?" Alara said to herself exasperated with feeling helplessly trapped like a Porg in a cage. "I should meditate," Alara again reminded herself thinking back to how much father Ren had been able to dig into her mind than she had expected. She was rusty, much rustier than she had accounted for and she was sure this would not be the last time he went digging through her mind, and if Snoke asked to examine her thoughts then she would definitely be fucked. Speaking of fucked she flashed back to the memory Ren had seen a glimpse of before she shoved him from her mind.

Ren had been correct that she had not maintained her vow of celibacy after leaving the Jedi order, far from it if she was to be frank with herself. She reflected on the specific man from the memory. Wondering what he was up to now the spice smuggler was perhaps the only other man besides Ben who she thought could have been considered love. They had crossed paths when she had tracked him down to redeem a bounty placed on him by an interstellar gang whom he had shorted. She laughed to herself remembering how easy it was to catch him, picking him up at the bar was undeniably easy. She remembers how charming he was with his smug smile, strong chin and dark brown eyes.

The plan had been to lure him up to the room she rented, hit him with a tranquilizer dart. However, after a few drinks together the chemistry was undeniable. She invited him up to her room as planned, but before she could drug him he had started kissing her. She began to recall how good he felt pressed against her as they began tearing at each other's clothes. She remembered being distracted getting his shirt when she felt his muscles contracting under her hands as he picked her up and carried her to the bed, dropping her gently as he finished removing his clothes and turned his attention to what remained of her own…

Suddenly, Alara was pulled from her memory and back into the present day by a red glow engulfing the room. She searched outside her window but could not find the source of the blood-red sky. "This was it she thought, this was the attack!" She felt helpless all over again. Her mind raced as she searched for what to do. She wouldn't have enough time to hook back up the transponder and even, so she had nothing to say. From the engulfing glow, she was sure the light could be seen throughout the galaxy. There was nothing she could do but wait.

And then there is was, a giant red flight stream shot across the sky. She could only assume it was some form of a laser cannon, but she was still unable to determine the source of the ray from her room. The beam appeared to make contact with distant planets and then the explosions began. In the distance she saw the planet exploded, followed by another, and another. She couldn't believe this was how far the First Order was willing to take their agenda to control the galaxy. She couldn't believe they would engage in complete planetary genocide.

How could he take things this far? Panic set in with the realization that the Ben, she knew would never contemplate such a thing and a deep-down part of her believed that man was still alive. A part of him she hoped would be reawakened when he saw her. Those hopes were now shattered realizing that she was trapped on a ship in the custody of a monster.

All she could do now was hope. I hope that the general and her newfound allies were not on one of those exploding planets in the distance. She wished she could reach out to them and see if they were alive, but now more than ever she was too scared of being found out. Her mind also flashed to the man from that torrid night who she hadn't seen in over a year sense she walked away from him for fear of having another many walk away from her. She closed her eyes wishing she could sense his energy but knowing she was not capable of it, "May the force be with you Poe Dameron wherever in the galaxy you might be."

This also snapped her back to reality and the importance of not being found out. She pried herself from the window, walked to the couch, and positioned herself in a meditative position. She had not attempted to enter this state since her time at the Jedi temple in training. Crossing her legs and closing her eyes she began breathing deeply. Attempting to shut out her the pain and worry she felt for herself, her friends, and those who were on the destroyed planets. Instead, she tried to enter her mind, blocking everything else out, and resume the task of building walls around all the memories she wished never to be seen. She must also attempt taking it a step further painting the walls with false memories innocuous in content but detailed enough to prevent suspicion.

General Leia received the private communication from Alara. She thanked the galaxy that the young girl must have survived the initial abduction and at least be in a position safe enough to communicate.

Her attention shifted to the content of the message itself and how she would proceed. Alara said an attack was being mounted but was not able to provide any further details. This meant options for mobilization were limited. She could evacuate the planet but if they were not specifically targeted the mass evacuation of ships would inevitably show up on First Order scanners burning this safe hold.

The General walked briskly into the control room, "We have received intel that the First Order is mounting an attack. Please start scanning the galaxy for any unusual activity. We cannot say exactly what the assault consists of, so any activity needs to be checked out thoroughly."

Han approached Leia and let out a long sigh, "so what danger are we facing today?"

"We cannot be sure, but we know something is coming…" Leia states still with her attention focused on the scanners.

Han sarcastically response, "Well that is helpful… not!"

Their focus was broken by the sound of commotion outside. The General and Han run outside to see a red-light projecting through the sky. A second it could be seen that several planets had been targeted by the ray and combusted.

Poe and Finn came running up to the General closely followed by BB-8, "General should we be evacuating or preparing the ships for a counterattack?"

"Whoa slow down Poe, this is when you must think like a leader and not just a pilot wanting to jump in your cockpit first chance you get. The fact is we do not have any information about what just happened. We received warning an attack was coming but thank the force it was not directly targeting us. Now we must hope and wait perhaps the hardest thing a leader will have to do," Leia responded drawing on her own inner force for the strength to remain the calm leader she knew she must.

"Fuck this, fine we will wait." Poe took some deep breaths pacing back and forward suddenly feeling and extreme sense of helplessness. Poe, in an attempt to appear calm followed it up with a simple question, "Is she alive?"

Leia responded with a soft, knowing, and faintly sad smile followed by a gentle nod of confirmation.


End file.
